PrintThin wall micro molding isn’t a joke. Achieving precise tolerances and ultra-thin features yields unexpected results even for experienced engineers. Plastic behaves in ways that aren’t nominal when 1 micron measurements matter. Industry experts Craig Tappe and Jeff Dirkx from Accumold discuss meticulous strategies and collaborative efforts that drive engineering success.
Limits of Thin Wall Micro Molding
One of the most common questions from quality engineers or R&D engineers when researching micro molding, centers on the limits of ultra-thin wall micro molding and materials that can achieve such fine tolerances. “How thin, small can you go and what kind of material lends itself to the smaller features versus larger parts?” is the biggest question he gets, said Tappe. The answer comes from decades of experience.
“Coming from the development side, I utilize our mold designers and mold team a lot and then represent the customer at Accumold often,” said Dirkx. “I’m able to show them, ‘here’s the tolerances we’re able to hold and the feature sizes we’re able to hold, and we’ll measure those parts which provide the reports.”
The parts are then tested at Accumold in the quality department, then sent to the customer for their verification. Sometimes, the customer wants to dial in the part even more, which can be done. In many cases, engineers aren’t aware of thin wall micro molding capability. “We can change that extremely accurately and get exactly what you expect out of that part,” said Dirkx. “If the change is to strengthen a rib or strengthen a feature you can be assured that we’re going to hit that dimension and those dimensions and make that perfect.”
Are you troubleshooting the manufacturing process or are you trouble shooting the design? Product designers and developers need to be troubleshooting the design. “You don’t want to have to worry about how the parts are coming to you. The parts should be coming to you as you design them,” Dirkx went on.
Capabilities of micro molding depend on early collaboration
Craig’s follow-up provided further insight into the capabilities and the collaborative approach required to achieve fine tolerances. He elaborated on the challenges and solutions for molding with high-performance materials and thin wall micro molding “How thin we can go with a lot of these materials?” asked Tappe “It’s obviously very feature-dependent and part design dependent, but we get questions all the time.” Collaboration is key here.
“Our upfront team usually can look at that component and reference some of the thousands of successful projects we’ve done and say, ‘Hey, you know what? We actually can do that part with PEEK, it’s a 15:1 aspect ratio. We’ve done this project and this project successfully with aspect ratios greater than that,” said Tappe.
Accumold is always recognized for its precision, but what’s often not discussed is the importance of early collaboration with engineering customers. By engaging with customers from the initial design phase, optimal gate locations can be optimized and the mold design can be tailored accordingly, ensuring better gate concealment and overall quality of the final product.